According to NASA, only 60% of lunar missions in the last 6 decades have been successful

New Delhi:

Lunar missions undertaken over the past six decades have had a 60% success rate, the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced.

According to the "Moon Fact Sheet" of the US Space Agency, only 61 of the 109 lunar missions – or 60% – over the past 60 years have been successful.

On Saturday morning, the attempt by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to make a soft landing on the moon did not take place as planned as ground control lost contact with the Chandrayaan 2 landing gear. Vikram, during his final run.

ISRO officials have stated that the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter is functional and that it will remain in business for a year or more.

Last year, Beresheet, the lunar mission of Israel, crashed on the moon in April.

From 1958 to 2019, India as well as the United States, the USSR (today Russia), Japan, the European Union, China and Israel launched various missions lunar – from orbits, landing gear and overflights.

The first mission on the moon had been planned by the United States on August 17, 1958, but the launch of the Pioneer spacecraft was unsuccessful.

The first successful mission on the moon was Luna 1 of the USSR on 4 January 1959. It was also the first mission to fly over the moon. Success only came in the sixth mission.

In the space of a little more than a year, from August 1958 to November 1959, the United States and the USSR launched 14 missions.

Of these, only three – Luna 1, Luna 2 and Luna 3, all launched by the USSR – have been successful.

The Ranger 7 mission, launched in July 1964 by the United States, was the first to take close-up shots of the moon.

Japan, the European Union, China, India and Israel arrived late.

Japan launched Hiten, an orbiter mission in January 1990. It was also Japan's first lunar mission. After that, in September 2007, Japan launched Selene, another orbiter mission.

There were six lunar missions from 2000 to 2009 – Europe (Smart-1), Japan (Selene), China (Chang-e 1), India (Chandrayaan 1) and United States (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCCROSS).

From 2009 to 2019, at least 10 missions were launched, including six by India, three by the United States and one by Israel.

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